1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for remotely managing an image forming apparatus in an environment in which functions provided via a network can be used in the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus used in an office, such as a copying machine or a printer, includes various functions. For example, the image forming apparatus includes a scanning function, a facsimile function, and a transmission function in which an address to be transmitted to is designated. Further, the image forming apparatus includes a function for converting scan data to a portable document format (PDF), and a function for converting such scan data to a desired page description language (PDL) when performing printing.
Conventionally, there is a system which detects and notifies a management server on the network of failures that have occurred when the functions included in the image forming apparatus are used (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-210103 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-142975).
The management server in the system stores, counts, and notifies a user of information that the management server has been notified of. Further, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-210103, the management server in a management system controls instructions to be issued to the image forming apparatus based on status information (i.e., device information, failure information, and counter information) of the image forming apparatus. In such a case, management information includes network information and the device information of the image forming apparatus, and operation information includes the failure information and the counter information of the image forming apparatus.
Furthermore, in recent years, there are cases where at least a portion of the functions to be included in the image forming apparatus is assigned to a server on the Internet. In such a case, the image forming apparatus accesses the server via a communication line and uses the functions assigned to the server, so that the image forming apparatus is provided with the functions not included therein. For example, if the function for converting the scan data to the PDF format is provided on the network, it is assumed that the process to be described below is performed.
The image forming apparatus in the office performs scanning and transmits the data to the server on the network via the communication line. The server on the network then coverts the data to a PDF file and returns the PDF file to the image forming apparatus in the office. The image forming apparatus thus acquires the scan data in the PDF format.
If such a system is introduced, the image forming apparatus can freely use the functions provided by the server and convenience thereof is greatly improved. Further, it becomes unnecessary to install in the office an image forming apparatus including specific functions to be shared by a plurality of users. Furthermore, problems such as insufficient resources (e.g., a hard disk drive (HDD) and a memory) can be solved.
The functions provided by the server as described above may not be usable by previous models of the image forming apparatus. Such previous models may become capable of using the functions provided by the server by updating firmware or improving the functions using a universal serial bus (USB) memory.
However, the image forming apparatus in the conventional systems discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-210103 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-142975 notifies the management server of the failure information according to a predetermined rule. As a result, if a function which cooperates with the function on the network is newly added to the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus cannot appropriately notify the management server of failures in the newly added function.
For example, if a failure occurs when the image forming apparatus is to use the function provided on the network, the image forming apparatus cannot recognize whether the failure has occurred in the image forming apparatus itself or in an external device such as the server which provides the functions thereto. If the image forming apparatus then notifies the management server of the occurrence of an abnormality in such a state, the management server receiving the notification cannot determine whether the abnormality has occurred in the image forming apparatus or in the external device. Further, the management server may treat the problem as an abnormality occurring in the image forming apparatus.
In a conventional system, the management server issues, when there is a failure in an image forming apparatus managed thereby, a notification for arranging a service personnel to be dispatched, for restoring the image forming apparatus. Upon receiving the above-described notification from the image forming apparatus, the management server may proceed to arrange for the service personnel to be dispatched to an installation location of the image forming apparatus in which there is no abnormality. In such a case, unnecessary dispatching cost may be generated.
Further, in the case where a problem has occurred in the external device on the network, the external device can be promptly restored if the management server can notify a maintenance personnel for the external device at the time of the management server recognizing the problem.
There is thus a demand for the image forming apparatus to become capable of appropriately issuing a notification to the management server even if a function which cooperates with the function on the network is newly added to the image forming apparatus. Further, there is a demand for the management server to identify where a failure has occurred, so that an appropriate service personnel can be flexibly dispatched.